The Other Side Of Paradise
by ApolloGeek27
Summary: Komaeda Nagito was normal. So he had to wonder why he was stuck on an island with fifteen SHSL Students forced to collect Hope Fragments. He wasn't even a SHSL Student! But, more importantly, what are those secrets that his teacher is hiding? And why did he have a feeling that life was going to turn even more of a hassle with the arrival of a weird two-tone bear on the island.
1. Hope Peak's Love Love School Trip

Komaeda Nagito stared at the ornate building in-front of him, his nose scrunching up in slight disdain.

Hope's Peak Academy.

An exclusive, government-sanctioned school that only accepts students with exceptional abilities into its hall.

Unlike other schools, Hope's Peak Academy did not hold any entrance exams for incoming students. Instead, the school's staff scout the world for students that they think are the best in their respective fields- from sports to cuisine to academics.

Students from all over the world dream of attending Hope's Peak Academy, as simply being a graduate from the academy was enough to ensure that you get employed in _any_ high position in _any_ field of the professional world.

It was the pinnacle of human civilization at it's very finest . . . and worst.

It was a school started by Kamukura Izuru on the ideology that if the very best and brightest of humanity were to be gathered to work in harmony together, that they would be able to bring a new era of enlightenment and prosperity upon the human race.

Unfortunately, the idealistic Izuru died, allowing his vision to be wrapped by the banal desires and wants of a society that sought to create a new elite hierarchical system to impose on the world.

What was once a shinning beacon of progress and success soon became a sign of corruption and greed. Not that the world really saw the corruption and greed, too blinded by the golden splendor that was Hope's Peak Academy.

How despairing.

And here he was, Komaeda Nagito, about to enter an academy he held no regard for and walk through its halls like an old friend.

Not in a million years would Nagito have thought to come here.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had business with the Steering Committee and the Headmaster, Nagito wouldn't have even set a foot on campus. He would have better spent his time on finishing the new book that Kodaka Kazutaka bought him, _Lord Of The Flies_.

Nagito took one step towards Hope's Peak Academy before a sudden dizziness came upon him. He blinked a little, trying to shake off the dizziness, before registering the sudden change in his surrounding.

One minute, he was taking a step on Hope's Peak Academy's grounds. And the next minute, he abruptly appeared in front of a classroom door. It was as if a scene change happened. He blinked once more, observing the door in front of him, felling unbalanced and confused.

Nagito would have been content to just take a minute or two to figure out how he went from one place to another if it wasn't for the classroom door opening.

Behind the door was an ordinary Japanese classroom, filled with fifteen student desks and a teacher podium. There were already fifteen teenagers all inside the classroom. But the odd thing was that none of the students were close enough to the door to have opened it . . .

"Ehh! Another person came!"

"Ooh, I can't wait to have some fun with him~."

"Ah, it seems that another pathetic mortal has entered the Dark Realm."

"Whoa, I didn't even know that it was possible to have white hair!"

"He looks like an shitty old man!"

"Don't say that! It's really rude."

"He might be a foreigner like me."

"Tch. Seems that another fucking moron is going to join this nut house."

"It is too early to tell if he is mentally impaired."

"I-is he o-okay . . . ?"

"Hey, he doesn't look so good . . . "

"He might need a nap, I think . . . "

"Maybe he should eat more!"

"He should eat well and shit well!"

"Quick, keep the door open!"

Before Nagito could do anything, he felt himself being pushed into the room. The sound of the door locking behind him rang unnaturally loud in his ears.

"Well, it looks like we're still stuck here for now."

Nagito quickly regained balance and turned to face the person who spoke.

It was a rather _wide_ teenager with long, black hair and pale, violet eyes. The teen wore a black button-up shirt and a white waist apron around his black slacks. They had an exasperated expression on their face, but it was soften with a gentleness that was soothing to the eye.

"I'm sorry. It seems I couldn't even do such a simple task as keep the door open." Nagito sheepishly smiled.

He felt a little uneasy about what happened. By what the person in front of him said, the door probably locked itself behind every person who entered. This entire situation that he was in, since stepping foot onto Hope Peak's Academy's campus, was beyond strange and unusual.

The teen in front of him just sighed. "It's okay. You're not the first person who didn't keep the door open."

Right when Nagito was about to ask for more clarification, a high-pitched voice brought all the attention in the room to the teacher's desk.

"May I have your attention please! My dear students, it is wonderful to meet you! I am Magical Girl Usami, your homeroom teacher!"

With that said, a white bunny in a tutu jumped onto the teacher's desk waving a wand at the class in a cutesy manner. This was apparently the signal for the roof of the classroom to be blown off and for the walls surrounding them to fall down, exposing the entire class to the sight of a beautiful, tropical beach.

Nagito's head started to ache from the surreal situation of suddenly appearing on a tropical island, despite how just a few minutes ago he could have attested to the classroom still being connected to the school. He didn't understand how this was happening, it broke all laws of reality.

His feeling of unease began to grow stronger, his heart pounding so loud that he could barely pay attention to what Usami was saying.

"Welcome to Hope's Peak Love Love School Trip! Sponsored and approved by Hope's Peak Academy! Let's all experience Love Love together!" Usami gave a wink to the shocked class to complete her entire spiel.

Nagito stared blankly at the sparkling ocean, the waves crashing into the sand becoming background noise in his mind. His headache became more unbearable, the pain making him clench his teeth tightly to alleviate it.

**. . . teleporting from one place to another . . .**

_. . . doors opening and closing by themselves . . ._

**. . . mysterious forces pushing people into entrapped areas . . . **

_. . . talking animals with magical girl properties . . ._

Nagito's breathing began to pick up in pace and black spots soon began to appear in his vision from the lack of sufficient oxygen. The stress of the situation, the feeling that something wasn't right, that something was wrong, that he couldn't understand what was happening, was making him go into a full-blown panic attack.

By the time that anyone in the classroom noticed that something was wrong with him, Nagito had already passed out.

* * *

_"__It'll be a real bore to just plunge the world into chaos, wouldn't it? Let's up the stakes a bit, shall we? Let's play a game- a game between __**Hope**__ and __**Despair**__!"_

* * *

"Hello . . . ? Can you hear me?"

Nagito slightly stirred at the sound of the voice. He cracked open his eyes, blearily looking up at the worried face above him.

"Usami-san . . . ?"

Usami hovered around him as Nagito slowly got his bearings and got up. He turned around and noticed that he was still on the same beach that he fainted on.

The beach was similar to the one in San Cristobal Island, a warm expanse of sand with blue-green waves crashing ashore. Palm trees bordered the beach, providing cool shade from the blinding sun. The strange thing about this place, however, was the lone surveillance camera positioned nearby.

But Nagito decided to pay more attention to the fact that the fifteen teenagers that were previously nearby when he fainted were not there anymore.

"Ah, I'm so glad! Nanami-chan said that you were simply too overwhelmed with the situation and that some rest was all that you needed. I was still worried though. After all, having one of my precious students get injured on the first day of the trip is something that I, as a teacher, wouldn't want."

"I see . . . "

Nagito put a smile on his face, the feeling of unease that he had previously was replaced with a forced calm. Getting worked up about the situation was simply pointless and something that he didn't want to go through again. It was better to stay calm and focus on more important matters, as Dr. Komatsuzaki Rui often advised him to be.

"What happened to all the others that were with me?"

"They all went to explore Jabberwock Island." Usami snuffled a bit.

"They all think that I kidnapped them. Ah, why can't my precious students believe me? We're all on Hope's Peak Love Love School Trip to collect Hope Fragments, that's all! As incoming students to Hope's Peak Academy's class of 77, they should all build relationships with each other to create a harmonious classroom environment."

"Hope Fragments . . . ?"

Usami jumped a little. "Ah, I forgot! Komaeda-kun was unconscious when I explained the rules of this Love Love School Trip."

She pulled out a digital pad and presented it to Nagito.

"This is a DigiPad! This DigiPad contains a map of the island we are on, Jabberwock Island, and can also locate where any student is on the island. They work as a cellphone and TouchPad. They even have profile pages of every student on the trip.

Every student is assigned one at the beginning of this Love Love School Trip.

The main purpose of the DigiPad, however, is to keep track of how many Hope Fragments you have. There are six Hope Fragments that students are supposed to collect for each of their classmates. A student only obtains a Hope Fragment after growing emotionally close with their classmates."

Usami handed the DigiPad to him. "This DigiPad is yours!"

Nagito thanked Usami before fiddling with it. He noted that the cellphone function only seemed to work for the other students who also had DigiPads, and that any other function that could possibly contact people from off the island were unavailable. He also found a notepad, recorder, and camera function that might come in handy. Besides that, there was also a music player function and a video game function.

He even found out that there was a student rule book in the DigiPad. He looked through the rules and felt a little surprised at how lax they were. There were only two rules: **No violence towards any person nor the environment** and **Obtain all Hope Fragments from all students in-order to leave the island**.

It was then that Nagito noticed the date on the DigiPad.

July 26, 2012.

But that was impossible. He clearly remembered that the date today was November 25, 2011.

And yet for it to be half a year later . . . that didn't make any sense. This was just one of the many questions that popped up in Nagito's mind about this off-putting situation that he somehow became involved in. Speaking of questions that need answers . . .

"Usami-san, may I ask why I am here?"

"Eh?" Usami stared at him in confusion

Nagito narrowed his eyes at Usami, not really buying into her confused act.

"Usami-san, we both know that I shouldn't be here. As you said before, it is the** incoming students to Hope's Peak Academy's class of 77** that should be building relationships with each other.

But I have no recollection of being scouted out as a Super Highschool Level Student nor registering at Hope Peak's Academy as a student. Not to mention the fact that my memories end around 2011 while the year currently is 2012.

Even someone like me can't simply have seven months worth of memories missing.

So tell me, why am I here? And why, exactly, am I missing seven months of my life?"

"I-I-I . . . " Usami squeaked.

Instead of answering his questions, she popped out of existence, disappearing entirely.

Nagito decided against trying to find her, he already knew that he would get his answers one way or another. If Usami wasn't going to be forthcoming with the situation he was in, then it would be up to him to figure out what was going on.

It was then he decided to go seek out his new "classmates" and get to know them.

Who knows, perhaps they might know some important information that might help him understand this bizarre situation he was thrust into.

* * *

_**Notes:** _

People who spoke in order: 

_Mioda Ibuki_  
_Hanamura Teruteru_  
_Tanaka Gundham_  
_Soda Kazuichi_  
_Saionji Hiyoko_  
_Koizumi Mahiru_  
_Sonia Nevermind_  
_Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko_  
_Pekoyama Peko_  
_Tsumiki Mikan_  
_Hinata Hajime_  
_Nanami Chiaki_  
_Owari Akane_  
_Nidai Nekomaru_  
_Ultimate Imposter_


	2. Luck Gamer Chef

Nagito began walking away from the beach, given the fact that no one was there, and soon came upon a gate with the words __Hotel Mirai __on it. When he looked at the map on the DigiPad, Nagito found out that he had happened upon the living complex for the students.

He decided to explore the area, especially given the fact that it seemed that seven of his 'classmates' were also there. He went through the gate and saw a large building in front of him. According to the DigiPad, it used to be the Hotel's Recreation Hall but is now currently undergoing renovation.

Next to the building stood a boy who seemed to be examining a poster of Usami waving at the viewer. The boy had spiky brown hair that reached his chin and amber-colored eyes. His skin was tan from spending time out in the sun and a frown was plastered on his face. He was wearing black slacks and a green blazer with a strange beige ensemble on it, underneath the blazer was a plain white T-shirt.

Nagito pulled up the student profiles on the DigiPad and searched for the profile of the person in front of him. When he got a result, he immediately clicked on it.

****Name:**** __Hinata Hajime__

****Title:********__Super High School Level Luck__

****Height:**** __5'8"__

****Weight:**** __147 Ibs__

****Blood Type:**** __A__

****Date Of Birth:**** __January 1st__

****Likes:**** __Kusamochi __

****Dislikes:**** __Sakuramochi__

Nagito raised his eyebrows at the title.

He remembered reading in the __Kamukura Project__, a biography on Hope's Peak Academy, of a program called The Lucky Student Lottery. The Lucky Student Lottery was designed to pick a random participant in the lottery and incorporate them in the Academy to stabilize the friction of all the Super High School Level Students that were gathered together in a class.

In a way, any person who was picked as the Super High School Level Luck was supposed to bring a little bit of normal, common sense to their much more talented classmates who might overreach themselves or burnout because of their genius.

Now days, given how elitist Hope's Peak Academy was, the fact that The Lucky Student Lottery was still a functioning program was slightly bewildering.

Nagito closed the profile on the DigiPad and went up to introduce himself to Hajime, a better option then waiting for him to get noticed.

"Excuse me . . . ?"

Hajime turned and blinked in surprise when he saw the person who was talking to him. "Weren't you the guy who fainted?"

Nagito's lips quirked up in amusement at how blunt Hajime was. It soon turned into a full out grin when Hajime finally noticed how rude he seemed and turned red from embarrassment.

"Yes, I'm the guy who fainted. My name is Komaeda Nagito."

Hajime sighed in relief and scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I'm Hinata Hajime. Sorry about leaving you alone at the beach. I . . . kinda forgot you were there. Everything was really crazy when we got here."

Nagito tilted his head a little. He didn't understand why Hajime was apologizing to him. After all, Nagito didn't really expect someone to be waiting for him on the beach. Given the troubling situation everyone was put into, it made sense that most of his peers would abandon the apparent weak link behind to go find an advantage in the set of circumstances they were in. It was just human nature.

"It's okay. Why are you here alone, by the way? I would have thought that most of our classmates would have separated into groups to explore the island for safety."

"Yeah, well, most of them just decided to go solo because not many of us know each other well and . . . I, well, I didn't really want to be that far from the beach just in case something happened."

Nagito nodded in understanding. He didn't really get to see much of his peers before he fainted but his brief impression of them was that they were noisy. And, perhaps, a disaster in the making.

All those strong personalities in one place . . . no wonder The Lucky Student Lottery was created. But seeing how anxious Hajime was, that program might not be as grand as it was made out to be. Still, it might be interesting to see how Hajime would interact with their much more talented peers.

"Ah, well, I'm going to go introduce myself to more of our classmates. If you'd like, Hinata-san, you can come with me? Besides I'd like to get to know you more."

Hajime's eyes widen a little at the second sentence. Before he could say anything, both their DigiPad's beeped.

****You have obtained one Hinata Hajime Hope Fragment.****

When Nagito looked at his DigiPad, he was a little surprised at the notification that popped up.

Hajime laughed a little, looking at his own notification of getting Nagito's Hope Fragment. "Well, it seems that getting Hope Fragments are gonna be a breeze. Now, if only we can believe Usami when she said that she would actually let us leave if we get them all."

"I think that it's going to be a little harder than simply introducing ourselves to our classmates, Hinata-san. In fact, the way we obtain Hope Fragments might be based on a level system where the difficulty of getting Hope Fragments increase the closer we get to completion."

"Huh," Hajime pursed his lips at that, "anyways, I think I'd like to take you up on that offer Komaeda. At least I can get __some__ Hope Fragments just by introducing ourselves."

Nagito smiled at that.

"Well then, off we go."

* * *

Both Nagito and Hajime ended up entering the Hotel Lobby, which was a short distance away from the Hotel's Recreation Hall. Once they entered, Nagito immediately noticed a lone person at the corner of the room playing on an arcade machine.

The person was a petite girl with long, choppy purple hair covering her entire face and grey eyes hyper-focused on the enemies she was killing. She was wearing a pink sweater vest with a cute Usami design on the front, underneath was a long, white button-up shirt, and a blue skirt with black knee-high socks. She was biting her lips as she stared intensely at the screen.

Nagito pulled up her profile while he let Hajime handle getting her attention.

****Name:********__Tsumiki Mikan__

****Title:********__Super High School Level Gamer __

****Height:**** __5'4"__

****Weight:**** __125 Ibs__

****Blood Type:**** __A__

****Date Of Birth:********__May 12th__

****Likes:**** __Stuffed Animals__

****Dislikes:********__Alcohol__

Hajime cleared his throat loudly next to Mikan, causing her to let out a small scream and trip backwards as she noticed the unfamiliar stranger close to her.

"Woah! Are you okay?" Nagito, after putting away his DigiPad, went towards Mikan to make sure she wasn't hurt from the fall.

"I-I'm fine. I-I'm sorry that I was taking up time on the game. P-please forgive me!" Tears kept falling down Mikan's face as she tried to rub them away.

Nagito was hesitated on trying to comfort her, unused to initiating contact with other people before ultimately deciding to not do anything. He instead lightly glared at Hajime for the situation.

"Not cool, Hinata-san. Making a girl cry."

"Bu-but I . . . !" Hajime spluttered.

Nagito hovered a little, trying to make sure that she wouldn't fall again.

"You did nothing wrong, you don't need to apologize. We just came here to introduce ourselves to everyone on the island, considering the strange circumstances we were all put in. I'm Komaeda Nagito."

Mikan sniffed a bit, getting back to her feet unsteadily. "I-it's okay. I-I shouldn't have been so absorbed in beating my score in __Space Invaders__. M-my name is Tsumiki Mikan. I-it's a pleasure to meet you."

Hajime waved a little from where he was standing. "I'm Hinata Hajime. Sorry about scaring you."

All Mikan did at that sentence was give a wobbly smile to convey her forgiveness.

Nagito hummed. "I'm not really surprised that you were absorbed in __Space Invaders__. As the Ultimate Gamer, having intense concentration in any game you were playing with would be the usual. It's a really hopeful thing to see, to be honest.

But what I am surprised about is the fact that an arcade machine would be here. Most island resorts wouldn't have an arcade machine given how outdated they are unless the resort was really old."

Mikan nodded. "T-that's true, Komaeda-san. J-Jabberwock Island is actually a private island resort owned by Ludenberg Corp. and it tends to be refurbished annually. I-it would be more expected to see the latest 3D Virtual Reality technology for the Hottest RPGs here instead of an old arcade machine for classic games.

B-but given how the Hotel's Recreation Hall was under renovation, it's more logical to assume that the employees from the Ludenberg Corp. have only partially started to refurbish the island before pausing their work with our arrival at the island."

Hajime whistled. "Wow, you sure know a lot about Jabberwock Island, huh?"

Nagito narrowed his eyes at Mikan. With the amount of information Mikan contained for the location they were at, she seemed a little . . . suspicious.

"T-the only reason I know so much was because Jabberwock Island occasionally hosts a convention for gamers called __GameOn__. I-I was invited through my YouTube channel to attend once. T-that's all, Hinata-san!"

Before Mikan could say anything, all their DigiPads' beeped.

****You have obtained one**** ****Tsumiki Mikan**** ****Hope Fragment.****

Mikan seemed surprised at getting a notification on her DigiPad. In fact, finding out that she had already gotten two Hope Fragments shocked her into a state of silence, not reacting to much of anything afterwards.

Nagito and Hajime tried to snap her out of it but gave up a little while afterwards. Instead, they left the Hotel Lobby for greener pastures.

Nagito didn't feel any guilt for leaving Mikan all alone at the Hotel Lobby, still suspicious of her. Hajime, however, glanced back a little uneasy about it.

* * *

While walking to the Hotel Restaurant, Nagito introduced Hajime to the profile section of the DigiPad in an effort to distract him from the previous matter. It was much more pleasant to deal with Hajime when he was distracted with something instead of being hung up on such a minor concern.

When they finally entered the Hotel Restaurant, they met with the first person Nagito talked to at the beginning of the so-called School Trip. Nagito quickly pulled up their information and skimmed through it.

****Name:********__Sagishi__

****Title:********__Super High School Level Chef__

****Height:**** __6'0"__

****Weight:********__286 Ibs__

****Blood Type:********__B__

****Date Of Birth:**** __May 5th__

****Likes:**** __Food __

****Dislikes:********__Bullies__

By the time Nagito was finished skimming through the profile, Sagishi had already noticed them.

"You're here just in time. I made a Coconut Grove Fruit Salad with Green Tea Citrus Sangria to help with the exhaustion and dehydration for you. Given how you fainted, I thought having something to eat would be nice."

Hajime whistled. "That looks delicious."

He was just about to pick up the tea when Sagishi slapped his hand away with a frown. "That was for our very pale friend here, not you. You'll have something to eat when lunch time comes around."

Hajime pouted a little.

Nagito felt flattered at the care that Sagishi put into making food for him. "I'm Komaeda Nagito. Thank you so much for the care you've shown me."

Sagishi smiled. "You can call me Sagishi. I'm not much of a nurse so I couldn't really be of use when you fainted but I tried to help out in what I could."

"So you're cooking lunch?" Hajime asked. "I thought it would be one of the employees here in Jabberwock Island that would be making our food."

"There's no one here except Usami and our other peers. I've asked and all Usami said was that she had it in control." Sagishi explained. "Really, this entire situation seems more like someone kidnapped us rather than a school trip. But we can't really do anything for now, even if the situation turns volatile."

Nagito took a sip of the tea as he processed what Sagishi said. What he said was entirely correct. They couldn't really do anything to leave this place. The only hope they had if they were kidnapped was for someone to notice that they were missing and alert the authorities.

But the most interesting thing that Nagito heard was the fact that no one else was here except Usami and Class 77. How was this island being maintained if they were the only ones here? And now that this question popped up, Nagito wondered about Usami herself.

What was Usami? Who created her? Why was she the one who was in charge of them? And why did the person or people who created Usami try to associate her with Hope's Peak Academy?

As Nagito slowly ate his way through the salad, his DigiPad beeped.

****You have obtained one**** ****Sagishi**** ****Hope Fragment.****

Sagishi briefly looked at his DigiPad and raised an eyebrow at the notification he got for gaining two Hope Fragments before putting it away and focusing on what Hajime was asking.

"Since there's no employees here, are you going to be the one to cook for us?"

"Yes," Sagishi nodded. "I'll cook for all of us for as long as we stay here. I'll post a schedule for eating times when I'm able."

Nagito soon finished his food and gave a sigh of satisfaction. "Thanks for everything."

Sagishi smiled, "No problem."


End file.
